Written Fates
by thegrlwholived
Summary: When Ron and Hermione head back to Hogwarts for their fifth year, they are faced with some situations that they need to overcome. Someone comes back to Hogwarts to try and win Hermione's heart and Ron tries to prove that he is more worthy. Chapter 8 up!
1. The Beginning

Written Fates  
  
This is my first attempt at fanfiction. I've read a lot of your stories, and I've loved them all (see my favorite author and story pages.) This story is set at Hermione and Ron's fifth year at Hogwarts. I would also like to mention that almost all of the characters mentioned in this story were created by the remarkably talented J.K. Rowling. If I decide to introduce a character not mentioned in books 1-5, then they are totally my creation. I'd really appreciate your advice and your criticism, and also your suggestions that I could later rope into some of the chapters. For now though, here's chapter one.  
  
Chapter One  
  
Hermione woke up and stretched. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around her room. To the naked eye, there was nothing unusual about it. Unless, or course, you took a closer look at some of her possessions. The bookcase, for instance, was crammed with books with titles such as 100 Magical Herbs and Fungi and many worn volumes of The Standard Book of Spells, grades 1-4. At the foot of her bed sat her packed trunk, full of robes and potion ingredients, and also a cauldron. And to top it all off, neatly placed on her desktop was a clean and polished wand. By now you may be thinking what kind of teenager is this Hermione? Well, in case you haven't noticed, Hermione happens to be an extremely clever witch, and in a few hours from now, is about to embark on a journey to her fifth year at Hogwarts with her very good friends, Harry Potter and Ronald Weasely.  
  
At this thought, Hermione jumped out of bed. "I've got to get ready!" she cried. She hurriedly washed herself and put on some muggle clothing. When she entered the kitchen for breakfast, she was greeted to the aroma of pancakes and bacon.  
  
"Good morning, sweetheart," her mother greeted her warmly. "All packed?"  
  
"Just about," Hermione answered through a mouthful of pancakes. "I need to be at Platform 9 ¾ early for the prefect's meeting."  
  
"Very well," said her mother. Hermione's parents had been extremely proud of her for being named one of the two prefects of Gryffindor house. "Have you any idea who is the other prefect?"  
  
"No, I haven't," Hermione answered, "although Harry said he might have some idea who it might be. Did you know that Harry got sent to the Burrow? Funny that I wasn't invited."  
  
Hermione looked down at her watch. "We better get going, I don't want to be late." She finished what was left of her breakfast, wiped her mouth with a napkin, and went upstairs to get her trunk.  
  
Half an hour later, Hermione was in one of the compartments with most of the chosen prefects of the other houses. The other prefect from the Gryffindor house, however, had yet to appear.  
  
Suddenly, the door to the compartment opened and in came a boy with flaming red hair and freckles scattered all over his face. Hermione knew in an instant that it could only be a tanner and taller version of her friend Ron.  
  
"Ron, you shouldn't be in here, this is the prefect's meeting," Hermione whispered, trying to shove him out the door he came in.  
  
"I know that, Hermione. I'm a prefect too!" Ron replied, slightly annoyed. She stopped her shoving and let the sentence take full effect and to see a shining pin the shape of a P on his chest.  
  
"Oh.Oh! Sorry, Ron. I-I didn't know. Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.  
  
"I thought you'd make fun of me," he said quickly, his ears turning pink.  
  
The two stopped talking long enough to hear the rest of the prefect's meeting, and then one by one, they all exited the compartment. There were far more people when they came out, so they had to squeeze by many people to make to the compartment that Ron had said Harry would be saving them. When they finally got there, they heaved their luggage up into the racks above their heads and threw themselves into the cushy seats lining both sides of the compartment.  
  
"What took you?" Harry asked.  
  
"Nice to see you too, Harry," Hermione sniffed.  
  
"Sorry Hermione, it is nice to see you," he said with a genuinely warm smile on his face. "But really, what did take you guys so long?"  
  
"Well, since Hermione wasn't convinced that I was prefect material." Ron started, before he was interrupted by Hermione. "Oh, enough already, I told you I was sorry! Maybe I would have known if I had seen the both of you this summer!" she snapped.  
  
There was an awkward silence between the three of them. The fact that Harry had been for a visit to the Burrow and Hermione hadn't still had not been touched upon.  
  
"Hermione, I'm sorry, it's just." he started, but before he could continue, Hermione stopped him.  
  
"It's okay Ron. I understand," she said, even though she didn't know what she was supposed to understand.  
  
Suddenly, the compartment door opened, and in came Ginny, Ron's younger but equally red-haired and freckled sister.  
  
A sudden warmth spread through Hermione. One of the few people who had contacted her over the summer had been Ginny, and their already tight bond had grown even closer. Hermione thought of Ginny as the sister that she had never had, but always wanted.  
  
"Ginny! How are you?" Hermione asked, getting up to hug her friend.  
  
"I'm wonderful, thanks. I'm so sorry that you couldn't come to the Burrow this summer, I begged Mum to let you, but." Ginny said, but before she could go on, she was shot a deadly look from Ron. Before Hermione could question this, however, Ginny seemed to have become magnetically attached to the door.  
  
"Er- well, I've really got to run. I'll save a carriage for you guys when we get up to the castle, okay?" Ginny asked, before quickly shutting the door behind her.  
  
Hermione was quite perplexed. "What's up with Ginny?"  
  
Hmm.what is up with Ginny? What does she know that Hermione doesn't? And what's up with Ron's death stare?  
  
Want to know?  
  
Here's what to do. Read Review Wait for me to think of the next chapter, silly (  
  
p.s. Notice how I like funny words? If you have some, tell me! I'll work them into the story for you ( 


	2. An Announcement

Thank you to all of you who have read and reviewed my story. I was up half the night last night thinking about all the things that could happen in this story. So, without further ado, here is chapter two.  
  
Chapter Two  
  
A few moments later, the train came to a stop, and the three friends could hear the hustle and bustle of people around them. Everyone on the train slowly sauntered out of their compartments, luggage in tow. Far ahead of them, Hermione could just see Ginny and her vivid read hair leaping into a carriage with the Hogwarts crest on the side.  
  
"There's Ginny, let's go," said Hermione.  
  
The three slowly made it through a slew of students blocking their path to the carriage Ginny had kept for them. Hermione got in first and sat opposite of Ginny. Next, Harry climbed in, and crashed on the seat next to Ginny. Then Ron, having nowhere else to sit, sat down gingerly next to Hermione, who noticed his ears turning pink again.  
  
"Are you feeling okay? You seem to be a bit.flushed." Ginny said with a sly smile playing on her face.  
  
Whatever was the matter with Ron, though, he didn't care to make public. Instead he spent the journey to the castle silently staring with immense concentration out the window while the others talking about their holiday.  
  
"So Harry, how exactly did you get to the Burrow?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Mr. Weasley came and got me," he said, but with a look of horror from Hermione, quickly added, "but he didn't come through the fireplace again!"  
  
"So how did he get you if he didn't come through the fireplace?" Hermione badgered.  
  
At this, Harry laughed. "I thought the Dursley's would murder me. When he showed up on our doorstep with a ministry car out front, I though Aunt Petunia would faint dead away."  
  
By the time Harry finished with the recollection of his adventure, the carriage had pulled up to Hogwarts. The carriage hadn't even come to a full stop, and Ron had already jumped out, grabbed his luggage, and hurried off up to the castle doors.  
  
"What is with him today?" Hermione asked the others.  
  
"Er- well, I could tell you, but he would probably kill me," Ginny said, motioning to Ron. "Don't worry though, he isn't mad at you or anything."  
  
Feeling somewhat reassured, Hermione hauled her trunk out of the carriage, and with Harry and Ginny in tow, made their way into the castle.  
  
A few moments later, Harry, Hermione and Ginny found Ron already seated in the Great Hall. Hermione and Harry sat down on either side of him, and they all eagerly awaited the arrival of the first years for their sorting ceremony.  
  
"I wish they would hurry up," Ron grumbled. "I could eat."  
  
"A hippogriff?" Hermione finished, smiling.  
  
Ron smiled faintly also. "Yeah.that too."  
  
Suddenly, the doors to the Great Hall banged open, and with that, in came a small huddle of first years, headed by Professor McGonagal. They swept up in between the house tables to the front of the staff table. One by one, each first year had the Sorting Hat placed on their heads, and after one or two second's pause, were sorted into their individual houses. The sorting ceremony was almost over when Hermione felt a tug at her sleeve.  
  
Ron was looking at her with a look of sincerity. "I'm sorry if I've seemed- er- short with you today. I just thought that you would be upset that I didn't have you come spend the summer at the Burrow with us, that's all."  
  
"I already told you, it's okay. I'm not mad or anything." She whispered back to him.  
  
"Well.alright, then." He said in reply, and with that, they both turned back to the attention of the sorting ceremony in time to see Alice Zilinger get sorted into Ravenclaw.  
  
At this point, headmaster Albus Dumbledore stood up.  
  
"My, my! What a pleasure it is to see all of you back here, safe and sound. Before we begin tonight's feast however, I must give a few start of term notices."  
  
At this, there was an ominous sigh that went through the whole hall. It seemed everyone's mind, including Ron's, was on the feast.  
  
Dumbledore started, "First, I would like to remind students of all years that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds."  
  
"I don't need telling twice," said Ron from Hermione's left, and she could see from the corner of her eye a shiver run down his spine. Apparently, Ron's encounter with hundreds of spiders in the Forbidden Forest still hadn't vanished completely from his memory.  
  
"Second, Mr. Filch would like me to remind you all that another fifty some- odd items have been added to the list of things banned from this castle." The corners of the headmaster's mouth twitched, almost into a smile. "Also, I have some news for all that may come as a bit of a surprise to you."  
  
A murmur spread throughout the hall. What did the headmaster have up his sleeve this time?  
  
"Due to the great success of last year's Yule Ball, the staff and I have decided that Hogwarts shall host yet another ball. This year's however, will be for New Year's Eve."  
  
The murmur that had first spread was nothing compared to the racket that everyone was making now.  
  
"The ball shall be open this time to the entire school, first, second, and third years included."  
  
There was now a tremulous roar of approval throughout the entire hall.  
  
"Settle down, settle down. I have one more thing to add," Dumbledore said, the twinkle in his eye more noticeable than ever.  
  
The hall went still, so still, in fact, that you could hear a pin drop.  
  
"Because I have extended the invitation to both of the schools that attended last year, I would like to inform you all that they have both accepted."  
  
Bombshell! Bet you guys never saw THAT one coming did you?  
  
What does this mean for Hermione? Surely Viktor won't be there.or will he? O_o  
  
Read and Review and get a nice surprise! (or.well, just the satisfaction that you actually did something good that will probably keep me writing.) 


	3. Beauxbatons and Durmstrang

Woohoo.made it to chapter three! I'm so proud.hopefully this chapter will turn out good. And hopefully, you guys will read and review and make my day wonderful. Forward march! Onto chapter three!  
  
p.s. Have you guys noticed that I'm not too gifted in the Chapter Name Selection department? Yes, I know it stinks. I just don't want to go giving anything away.but if someone can come up with chapter names that would so rock.  
  
Chapter Three  
  
The news of the soon to be appearance of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang was the most talked about topic for the first few days classes were in session. Even though the ball was a good three months away, there was already talk of who was going to the ball with whom and when to buy new dress robes. It took all of Hermione's might not to develop a twitch in her eye.  
  
"Why are you so against the whole ball-thing?" asked Ron one crisp October day after Herbology. The weather was so nice at this time of day, all you really needed was a light cloak.  
  
"I'm not against it, per say, its just if I hear one more person talking about Madam Elise's Elegant False Eyelashes, I think I'll snap." Hermione answered irritably. "Plus, its not like anyone would go with me anyway."  
  
Ron turned to look at her. "What are you talking about? Plenty of guys would go with you, Hermione!"  
  
"Oh yeah? Name a few," she said.  
  
"Um, well.after the whole Krum thing.it makes you look real good, doesn't it?" he answered sheepishly.  
  
"So are you trying to tell me that I'll only get a date because of the fact that I went to the Yule Ball with Krum?" Hermione rounded on him.  
  
"Ah, that sounded bad, didn't it? I'm sor-" he started before he was interrupted by Hermione.  
  
"It's okay, I get it Ron. I have to get to Arithmancy. I'll see you later," she answered coolly.  
  
And with that, she hurried up to the fourth floor, leaving Ron standing alone and furious with himself.  
  
For a few days, Hermione and Ron really didn't speak to each other, more to avoid a huge blowout than anything. It was only after constant nagging from both Harry and Ginny that their conversations had a more civil note to them.  
  
One evening upon entering the common room, Hermione saw a huge mass of people crowded around the common room notice board. She looked around and saw Harry, Ron, and Ginny seated at a table, piles of their homework threatening to cause an avalanche.  
  
She made over to them and asked, "What's going on?"  
  
"They posted a notice about Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. They're going to be arriving in two weeks," Ginny said, not looking up from her homework.  
  
"Really? That's kind of soon. I mean, the ball isn't for another couple of weeks," Hermione said.  
  
"Yeah, well they want to give the students time to mix among us. Last time they were here, it was almost sort of a rivalry going on, with the Triwizard Tournament and everything," Harry answered.  
  
Hermione thought about this for awhile, then said, "For some it might have seemed like a rivalry, but not for me."  
  
She saw Ron visibly stiffen, but instead of saying anything, kept his mouth shut. Thinking of nothing else to do, Hermione sat down with the others, took out her homework, and began working.  
  
As the date of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang's arrival grew closer, Hermione noticed that the castle was once again going through a thorough scrubbing. Notices had been put up all over the school by the caretaker, reminding students to scourgefy the bottom of their shoes before they entered the castle and to make sure that all dorms were kept clean.  
  
Finally, on the evening that the two schools were to arrive, the students and staff assembled outside to wait for their visitors to appear.  
  
"I really wish they would hurry up, it's getting cold out here," Hermione said after fifteen minutes.  
  
Suddenly, she felt two robed arms wrap around her from behind. She cricked her neck back and saw the owner of the two arms was Ron.  
  
Looking confused, she said, "What are you doing?"  
  
"You said you were cold, right? Take it or leave it," he answered.  
  
Deciding that she preferred being warm rather than cold, she gingerly shifter her weight so that she was slightly leaning up against Ron. He seemed not to mind, or perhaps not notice, so she stayed in this position.  
  
A short time after that, Hermione heard a rumbling above her, which could only mean the arrival of the Beauxbatons carriage.  
  
"Madame Maxime, how wonderful to see you again," Dumbledore said after the carriage had landed. "We were just waiting for our party from Durmstrang to arrive."  
  
"Ahh, Late again, I zee. You won't mind if we go eenzide to warm?" Maxime purred.  
  
"Certainly not," the headmaster answered.  
  
After the Beauxbatons lot had moved inside, the attention focused this time on the Great Lake, the last known arrival route of the Durmstrang ship. Hermione was still shivering, although not as hard as before.  
  
Then suddenly, a familiar sucking sound came from the lake. Then, slowly, a ship came into form on top of the water.  
  
As the students descended off the ship, Hermione subconsciously began looking at their faces. Some of them she remembered, others she did not. As the crowd of students started to thin, Ron let out a gasp that shook Hermione out of her leaning stance against him, and a split second later, caught her before she hit the ground.  
  
"What did you do that for?" she said angrily, straightening up.  
  
Ron grabbed her head with both hands and turned it in the direction of the end of the line of Durmstrang students. Hermione gasped; she now understood what caused Ron to create such a commotion.  
  
"I thought you said he graduated," Ron said weakly from behind her.  
  
"I did.but.what's going on?" she asked, completely confused.  
  
Suddenly, a tall boy was standing in front of her, but she knew it wasn't Ron, because he was right behind her.  
  
"Hello, Herm-my-oh-ninny," the boy said.  
  
Just when you guys thought I couldn't drop any more bombshells.there's another one!  
  
You guys know what to do now.and for those of you who are thick, I'll remind you.  
  
Read. Review. 


	4. Person of the Past

Wow. I can't believe how many people have actually read this! Sure, 10 isn't a lot, but since this is my first fic, it's good enough for me. Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, I hope I can keep you guys happy. If you have any advice, or you think its getting a little dry, just leave a review.  
  
I'd like to thank Juliette4 for coming up with my chapter titles. I really suck at it, so this is a big deal for me. I'm still going to need some chapter name selection, so feel free to offer up a title for each new chapter, but don't be offended if I don't use it.  
  
My first version of this chapter was deleted, courtesy of a floppy disk. Don't worry, it's been burned and currently resides in the bottom of my friend's fireplace. I think this version will be better anyway. The truth is, I haven't written this since August because I was so mad that all my stuff got deleted. But since I got so many reviews after posting chapters two and three, I thought, "why the heck not?" So here it is!  
  
Chapter Four  
  
"Herm-my-own-ninny? Vat's the matter?" the tall boy asked with concern.  
  
Hermione instantly jumped out of her perplexed state. "K-Krum! What on earth are you doing here?"  
  
"I haff come back to Durmstrang to teach. I am the new Quidditch teacher," he answered.  
  
Feeling a tad rude, Hermione advanced and gave him a warm hug. "Well in any state, it's nice to see you. How have you been?" she asked. Hermione could hear Ron huff from behind her, and hear Harry laugh at Ron for huffing.  
  
But pretty soon, it became obvious to Hermione that Ron and Harry's eyes weren't the only ones on them. In fact, the majority of the school was looking in their direction; smaller students were relying on larger one's to give them a look at what the hold-up to the castle was. Hermione felt her face burn as she let go of Krum and proceeded to walk inside along side of him, closely followed by Ron and Harry.  
  
Everyone was swept into the Great Hall and seated at their appropriate tables. Krum went off to sit with the rest of the teachers at the staff table, and Hermione sat down between Ron and Harry at the Gryffindor table.  
  
"So, why is i he /i here?" Ron asked, looking in Krum's direction.  
  
"You heard him, he's teaching Quidditch at the school," Hermione answered.  
  
"Are you sure that's all he's here for?" Ron prodded.  
  
"Of course that's all he's- wait- what's that supposed to mean, Ronald Weasley?" she rounded on him.  
  
"Well- erm- you know.," Ron started feebly.  
  
"No, I don't, so that's why you're going to explain," she demanded.  
  
Ron was looking at anything and everything but Hermione. She could tell that he wasn't sure if he should blurt out what he was going to say. Through this whole ordeal, Harry was looking on, rather amused.  
  
"Hermione, Ron thinks that Krum's not here on school business, but business of his own, if that helps you understand any better," Harry said between a bread biscuit (a/n: bread biscuit? Is it a bread or a biscuit?).  
  
Hermione stared at Ron. "What makes you think that?" she asked him, as she too was amused.  
  
"Well.you were.erm.in his castle over the summer, weren't you? And.erm.you couldn't have been around his parents i all /i the time, could you?" Ron questioned, cringing as he spoke.  
  
Hermione grabbed her own bread biscuit and chucked it at his head. "RON! Nothing ever happened between Krum and me, not that its b any /b of your business!"  
  
"You didn't?" Ron said as he rubbed the sore spot on his head, looking utterly bewildered.  
  
"I told you, it's none of your business," she hissed between clenched teeth.  
  
They sat the rest of the meal in huffy silence, only speaking when Ron wanted butter for his biscuit and Hermione answered that she didn't take orders from perverted red heads. Once she was finished, Hermione stood up to leave for the Gryffindor tower. Once she was out in the hall, she started climbing the steps, but not before she heard a pair of feet behind her. She turned around to find Ron standing there.  
  
"Hermione? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you," he said, looking down at his feet as he spoke.  
  
Hermione climbed back down the steps so she was closer to Ron. "Nothing happened between me and Krum, Ron. I was telling the truth. I broke things off after I return home. He sent letters to me regularly, but that's all," she said.  
  
There was an awkward silence, as there always were after they fought and resolved. "So now you know," she said to fill the gap.  
  
There was a loud scraping noise heard from the Great Hall, which meant that the feast was now over, and people would be returning to their rooms. Before Ron and Hermione could start up the stairs however, Krum came around the corner to face both of them.  
  
"Could I haff a word with you, Hermione?" he asked, then noticing Ron, added, "Alone?"  
  
Hermione saw Ron's face contort with suppressed emotion. He nodded curtly and ascended up one of the moving staircases.  
  
Krum led her down a deserted corridor. About half way down, he stopped to look at her.  
  
"Hermione, you are as beautiful as ever," he said gazing into her eyes.  
  
Barely able to turn her snort of laughter into a cough, she said "Thank you," in return.  
  
"Did you get all of the letters I haff sent you?" he asked.  
  
"Yes, I did. They were lovely," she answered, not wanted to tell him that she couldn't quite agree with what she was saying. Hermione decided to continue walking, and they were making their way up a staircase that would lead them to Gryffindor tower. They walked the rest of way, making small conversation and it was only before she gave the Fat Lady the password that he stopped her.  
  
"I would just like you to know, that I meant everything that I said in those letters, Hermione. Everything," he said.  
  
And with that, he bent down and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. And electric shock ran through Hermione - it had been so long since he had kissed her.  
  
He straightened up and said, "Sleep vell, my Hermione," and made his way down the corridor, leaving her completely speechless for the second time in one night.  
  
Hm. what i was /i in those letters? And why do Ron and Hermione fight so much? Where is Draco Malfoy through all this? More importantly, WHERE'S OLIVER WOOD?!?! (sorry, big Oliver fan, can't believe they cut him out of the Azkaban movie)  
  
But anyway, please read and review, I'd really like to make it to 50 reviews! And as always, criticism is welcome.  
  
3 


	5. PuffCheeked Pin Petals

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed thus far. To those of you worried about a Hermione/Krum thing happening, all I'm going to say is: don't worry.  
  
I also want to let you guys know that it's physically impossible for me to write a chapter every single day. I like to think about what to put into it, switch some things around, and figure out how to end it before I actually start typing it out.  
  
Here goes!  
  
Chapter Five  
  
Hermione staggered through the portrait hole, flushed on both cheeks. She still couldn't believe what just happened. Maybe Ron was right - Krum wasn't just here on school business.  
  
Still, Hermione thought to herself, what happened between us is over. He should have known better than to pull a stunt like that.  
  
Hermione scanned the common room with her eyes and discovered Ron and Harry in a far off corner, piles of parchment and books on either side of them. Hoping that the splotches on her cheeks wouldn't give her away, she made her way towards them.  
  
"Bloody bats' already given us enough homework to last us into our seventh year," Harry grumbled, crossing out yet another misplaced star on his map. From what Hermione could see, his "map" was just a piece of paper with cross out marks, but didn't feel the need to make the statement verbal.  
  
Hermione perched herself on one of the arms of Ron's chair, looking at his map also. Its quality wasn't that far from Harry's. His hair looked as if he had been electrocuted; on end from his hands constantly running through it in frustration. Hermione sighed and brushed it back into place with her hand.  
  
"Hermione, we need you back in Trelawney's class. How are we supposed to do this on our own?" Ron exclaimed.  
  
"You guys could have followed me down the ladder, I left the door wide open after I left," she remembered. "But this is what I do know. This piece of paper," she said, brandishing it before Ron's face, "looks like it caught the chicken pox."  
  
"What are the chicken spots?" Ron asked while Harry and Hermione choked down a laugh.  
  
"Never mind. Here, I'll help you guys out," she said, sitting on the ground with Ron's paper, which she scourgefied clean with a wave of her wand. Twenty five minutes later, Hermione had helped both boys correctly mark and label their star charts. After packing away their things, Ron grabbed her hand to pull her to her feet.  
  
As soon as she was standing, she realized that she and Ron were close. VERY close. Close enough to see that his eyes had a little green in them. (a/n: sorry, I'm a huge 10 things I hate about you fan!)  
  
"Um.guys? It's really late and I think we should get going," Harry said, springing the two apart. Hermione looked around the room, and to her surprise found it deserted.  
  
"I'll be right up Harry. I'm just gonna round up the rest of my things," Ron said, waving his friend goodnight.  
  
As they both gathered up their things, Hermione tried not to note the awkward silence. She'd noticed that they had a lot of those lately, but she couldn't imagine why. They climbed the stairs until the boys dormitories branched one way and the girl's the other.  
  
"Goodnight, Ron," she said sleepily.  
  
There was a silence. "Sweet dreams, Hermione," he replied bashfully.  
  
The next morning, Hermione dressed and went down the stairs and out the portrait hole. As she turned the corner, she walked into something extremely solid.  
  
"Good morning, Herm-my-oh-ninny," Krum said, giving her a surly smile.  
  
Hermione gave herself a couple of seconds for her eyes to focus back to normal. Walking head-on into something that hard and that fast couldn't be good for your face.  
  
"Oh! Good morning, Viktor. What are you doing?" she asked.  
  
"I can to find you for breakfast," he answered, walking her down to the Great Hall.  
  
As she entered, she could see a few heads turn towards them. They automatically retreated and started whispering to their neighbors. Hermione felt herself blush. As she looked down the Gryffindor table, she could see Harry and Ron had saved her a place next to them. She silently begged for Ron not to look up, but seeing that he was in no way telepathic, he did so anyway. Realization dawned on his face, and he looked down with a scowl.  
  
"Ah, Viktor, I really have to go. I've got classes today," she said quickly, still trying ever so dearly to push last nights happenings as far from her mind as she could.  
  
"Alright then, I shall see you sometime later," he mumbled and slouched away, making her feel extremely guilty. It's not everyday an international Quidditch player gives you the time in the world, she thought to herself.  
  
As soon as he had gone, she bolted to the Gryffindor table, sitting down next to Harry. She tried to avoid the prying eyes of her fellow peers as she grabbed three sausages from a gleaming silver plate.  
  
"I thought you said nothing was going on," Ron said from out of the corner of his mouth, making Hermione choke on a bit of her sausage.  
  
"Nothing IS going on," she sputtered between bits of flying meat. "He found me in the hallway and walked me to breakfast, that's all."  
  
Not wanting to start a fight that would measure a 9.0 on the Richter scale, Ron shoveled a spoonful of sausage into his mouth as Hermione finished up her sausages. Once they were fed and full, the trio walked to their first class, Herbology.  
  
The three filed into greenhouse five as Professor Sprout followed them in.  
  
"Good morning class! Today we will be working with a new species of plant. This is called the Puff-Cheeked Pin Petal," Professor Sprout pointed out several of the plants lined on the tables in front of the students. They were, indeed, puff-cheeked and appeared to have many pins attached to their petals. Hermione recognized them right away from a book she had read over the summer.  
  
"Professor, shouldn't we be wearing protective clothing? The Puff-Cheeked Pin Petal can detect any form of skin, and will launch their pins into it if they notice that it has been left unprotected for too long," Hermione said, not trying to sound like the know-it-all tag she had been given.  
  
"This is true, Miss Granger. 10 points to Gryffindor," the professor said, looking very pleased. "You will all put on your gardening coats and dragon hide gloves, along with a mask I will give you. You will be collecting Puff- Cheeked seeds from the plants cheeks, and should have retrieved them all by the end of the lesson."  
  
The students, now carefully protected, proceeded to open up the plants cheeks to find a dozen or so violet colored seeds in each pouch. It was slow work; some plants involuntarily spewed their pins if a student was too aggressive with its cheeks.  
  
After an hours work, Hermione could feel sweat trickling down the side of her face. Although it was mid-November, it was still warm in all of the greenhouses, and with all the heavy equipment they were wearing, it felt like July.  
  
"Stupid plant," Ron muttered angrily, as he was sprayed with pins for the fourth time that period. So far, his coat had done a good job at repelling the needles, so there was no need for alarm.  
  
"What's the matter?" Hermione asked, setting aside her twelfth perfectly picked Pin Petal. "This piece of rubbish won't let me pick its seeds. I'd say it's good near out of pins now," he added.  
  
"Here, let me try," Hermione said, taking his plant. It was getting harder and harder to see with the mask on; it kept fogging up from the humidity. Hermione removed it with the intent of putting it back on quickly. She gently pulled one of the plant's cheeks to the side with her finger, and very carefully starting plucking out the seeds with her tweezers.  
  
"There," she said, placing Ron's perfectly pruned plant alongside all of hers. "That wasn't that hard now, was i-" she started, but was suddenly overcome with a pain on the left side of her face.  
  
"Hermione! Bloody hell, why did you take off your mask?" Ron said, catching her before she hit the ground completely.  
  
"Ow! What's wrong with my face?" she half screamed, for the pain she was feeling was absolutely horrible.  
  
Professor Sprout came waddling around a table. "Ah, Miss Granger, I specifically asked for you not to remove your head mask! It seems that Mr. Malfoy's Pin Plant has injected its needles into your skin," she said, looking at Hermione wearily. She turned and saw Malfoy give her a malicious grin and mouth the word 'Mudblood', and Ron starting making furious and obscene gestures in his direction. "And oh, dear. It seems you are having an allergic reaction to the pins."  
  
Hermione knew the teacher wasn't lying, for the simple face that her eyelid was now closing faster than you could say 'Ouch'. She felt so stupid for taking off her mask, but wouldn't let the tears threatening to spill out of her eyes run down her face.  
  
"Mr. Weasley, please bring Miss Granger to the hospital thing. Its good luck that Madam Pomfrey just got in new vials of Puff-Cheek antidote," she said, turning back to the rest of the class.  
  
Once they were outside, Hermione started to sniffle. "I'm so stupid.why did I do that? Oh, this really, really hurts," she warbled.  
  
"Don't worry Hermione, everyone forgets something once and a while. Madam Pomfrey will make you look good as new," he said, placing an encouraging arm around her.  
  
He helped her up back to the castle, where Hermione received funny looks from ghosts floating by. I guess having two inch long needles sticking out of your skin will get you some attention, Hermione thought inwardly.  
  
Once in the hospital wing, Hermione sat down on one of the beds, Ron beside her. Madam Pomfrey came in, and walked out muttering something about "not following directions". She returned seconds later with some sort of paste, and applied it gently around each pin. Hermione's face relaxed; she could feel the pins falling out and onto the bed.  
  
"There, almost as good as new. There should be a small bit of swelling for the next couple days, but it will eventually shrink with time," Madam Pomfrey said, closing the container and sweeping into her office.  
  
Hermione grabbed a hand mirror of a nearby table. Her face was indeed, swollen like a balloon.  
  
"Look at my face," she said, fresh tears starting in her eyes again. "I look absolutely dreadful."  
  
Ron gingerly turned her head so he could see her entire face. "You look just as pretty as you did before," he said.  
  
Hermione looked up, expecting to see a smirk on his face, for surely she had heard him say that with sarcasm. But as she looked into his green- flecked eyes, she could tell her meant it with all his heart.  
  
So what do you guys think? I thought it was pretty good, considering I was doing my chemistry homework at the same time. Now just let me remind you, I can't be doing a chapter a day, not with my schedule hanging round my neck. I could possibly do one once every four days, and I guarantee that the quality of the chapters will be better. This one was just kind of thrown around and written in under three hours.  
  
Please read and review like always! I read every single one, and it makes my day when I get some.  
  
Thank you to Juliette4 and ThinkingOfAName for your constant reviews. It means so much to me!  
  
3 


	6. Did you just say

It's been awhile. And I know it has. I've just been extremely stuck, I need filler, and hopefully this works out. I'm sorry to keep you guys waiting- it's not like me to abandon one of my stories for as long as I have. So here goes.please read, review, and make suggestions, because I'm pretty much going on nothing lol.  
  
*~*  
  
After Madam Pomfrey came into Hermione's cubicle and pronounced her healthy, she and Ron left without a word said between them. Her head, along with feeling tiny pricks of pain from the Puff-Cheeked pins, was spinning with emotion. Had Ron really meant what he said? And if he had, why?  
  
It was near lunch when they made it to the Great Hall, which was filled with students jabbering away between mouthfuls of food. Hermione spied Harry and made a beeline to a chair next to him.  
  
"Where were you guys? It shouldn't have taken nearly that long," Harry said, a knowing smirk spreading across his face.  
  
Hermione and Ron exchanged identical looks of awkwardness across the table. Ron's face was full of ham sandwich and was pretending to not have heard Harry.  
  
"Oh - if you must know, the pins took awhile to fall out. With my allergic reaction and everything, it's a miracle they're not still in there," Hermione said very quickly.  
  
She hurriedly jammed a sandwich into her mouth, so Harry was left to talk to Ron about Quidditch, which was very hard considering Ron was talking with his mouth full of bread.  
  
Twenty minutes later, both boys pushed their chairs back from the table and stood up.  
  
"Ah, well, off to Divination. We'll catch up with you in the common room later, Hermione," Ron said, and walked off in the direction of the North Tower.  
  
Harry was about to follow, but Hermione grabbed his arm with such force that he was planted right back into the seat he had been sitting in.  
  
"Ow! What was that f-," he started, but before he could finish shouting, she clamped a hand over his mouth.  
  
"Shh! I need to talk to you tonight, without Ron around," she said in a low voice so no one would overhear her.  
  
"If that was all you wanted, why couldn't you have just told me without the vice grip?" he asked, massaging the spot she had dug her nails into.  
  
Hermione snorted.  
  
"And they say women are weak to pain," she said loftily, and headed out the doors of the Great Hall to Arithmancy.  
  
*~*  
  
Class went rather well for Hermione, considering the Puff-Cheeked attack from this morning was quite literally written across her face. Once she blocked out the strange feeling on her face from her mind, she was able to concentrate. She was working so well, in fact, that Professor Vector had to call her name three times before she realized that the bell had already rung.  
  
She was rounding the corner of a hall when a voice made her come to a halt.  
  
"Her-my-own-ninny!" Krum called to her from the other end of the corridor.  
  
Hermione groaned inwardly. It wasn't everyday an International Quidditch player gave you the time of day, and it just so happened this day she had an unnaturally puffy face. When she turned around, she saw Krum striding towards her in the near-empty corridor. However, his expression went from delight to concern once he got closer to her.  
  
"Vat happened to your face?" he asked with a worried look on his own.  
  
"Oh, I wasn't paying attention in Herbology, and I - well - needless to say, one of the plants sprayed me with its quills, and I had an allergic reaction to them," she answered hurriedly, as if getting it out all at once would make her face turn a lesser shade of pink.  
  
"Vell, you look just as pretty as you did before," Krum said, shuffling his feet and smiling shyly.  
  
'That's funny,' Hermione thought. 'Where have I heard that before?' She thought for a second, and then what she remembered made her brain jam.  
  
Just a few hours before, Ron had reached over her hospital bed, gently turned her face, and had said those exact same words. It was strange, though; when Krum had said it, her heart hadn't stopped like it had when Ron did.  
  
Hermione looked around in the corridor. She had expected to see a dozen eyes on her, but was shocked to find that the hall was completely empty.  
  
"Er- Viktor, I have to go, I was supposed to meet Harry and Ron in the common room awhile ago," Hermione said awkwardly, not knowing how to respond to what he had coincidentally told her.  
  
Krum looked at her, and she thought she detected a hint of hurt behind his dark eyes. "Ah. I vill be seeing you, Herm-my-own-ninny." He said, and without a second glance at her, slouched off down the hall he had come.  
  
Hermione waited in the hallway for a few minutes, giving herself time to think. What were the odds that two out of three of her closest male allies would have identical remarks about her? And again, what was Krum playing at? They had both agreed to keep things on a friend's only basis, but it seemed like he had a disregard for the rules.  
  
Realizing again that she was late for meeting up with her friends, she dashed down the corridor to a staircase that would lead to the Gryffindor common room. Before she could get there however, she had the rug she was running over pulled out from under her by an invisible force so that she was sent flying through the air and hit the ground with a thud, sprawled out in a haphazard fashion.  
  
Suddenly, Peeves the poltergeist materialized out of thin air.  
  
"Someone's smitten with a Durmstrang teacher," he cackled evilly.  
  
It took Hermione a minute to get her breath back, as it had been knocked out of her by the fall. Once she regained it, however, she spoke to Peeves with such language that the Weasley twins would have been proud.  
  
"Such language, from a prefect, nonetheless," the poltergeist said, impressed. "Just don't let old Peevesie catch you two, if you know what I mean," he snickered, giving her a large fake wink and speeding away.  
  
By the time Hermione finally reached the common room, it was well near dinnertime. She entered the portrait hole just as Ron, Harry and Ginny were about to leave.  
  
"What took you? We've been waiting for you for nearly a half hour," Ginny said, eyeing her friend with concern. "And what happened to your face?"  
  
"Long story Ginny, I'll tell you at dinner," Hermione said.  
  
"Good, we're just about to go. Are you ready?" Harry asked.  
  
"Actually Harry, I needed to ask you about something. The - erm - Herbology that I missed after I left for the hospital wing," she said slowly, giving him a look that meant for him to lag behind while the others went to dinner.  
  
Harry looked at her intently, clearly not knowing what she meant. Hermione nodded her head a little in the direction of Ron, who was eyeing them suspiciously, as was Ginny. This went on for about ten more seconds, until Hermione finally gave up.  
  
"Oh for heaven sakes, Harry! I need to talk to you alone!" she exclaimed a little louder than she meant to.  
  
Comprehension dawned on Harry's face, as did Ginny's.  
  
"Oh, hold on, I left something in the girl's dormitory. I'll just go fetch it and I'll meet you at dinner, okay Ron?" Ginny said to her brother.  
  
Ron looked from Hermione to Harry to Ginny.  
  
"I don't know what's going on here, but I don't like it," he said darkly. He turned quickly on his heel, but before he could realize that the portrait hole had long since closed, he walked head-on into it with a dull thud.  
  
Ron cussed some five or six different words that Hermione knew his mother wouldn't approve of before giving his friends a sheepish glace, uttering the password and climbing out the portrait hole.  
  
"Okay then, so what are you two saying that Ron can't know about?" Ginny asked with the ease of one having a conversation about the weather.  
  
"You mean you didn't really have something to fetch in your dormitory just now?" Hermione asked, looking at Ginny impressively.  
  
"Nah, I figure I know what this is all about and I could be of some assistance," she said, grabbing the end of her long auburn ponytail and absentmindedly twirled a lock of her hair around her fingers.  
  
"You're going to be just as good as your brothers," Harry smiled, referring to the Weasley twins. "I'm sorry, did I just say good?"  
  
"Anyway Hermione, what is it that you wanted to say?" Ginny asked.  
  
Hermione told them everything from the time she and Ron had left the greenhouse up until a few moments ago. To her surprise, she was met with looks not of confusion and perplex like her own, but of what looked like they were hiding an extremely humorous joke from her.  
  
"You mean you don't know?" Harry asked, sounding amazed and entertained.  
  
"Don't know what?" Hermione asked, still completely confused.  
  
"I thought you would have at least suspected something before now. I mean, it's entirely obvious," Ginny said with awe in her voice.  
  
"Listen, if this is some stupid joke," Hermione started before she was cut off by Ginny.  
  
"Oh Hermione, don't you see? Ron fancies you," she said, looking at her as if she were a lost little kitten.  
  
For the umpteenth time that day, her brain became jammed once more. She looked from Ginny to Harry, then back to Ginny once more. 'This has to be some stupid trick,' she thought to herself, but could tell by the looks in her friend's eyes that they were telling no word of a lie.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Okay, I left it with a huge cliffhanger. I'm completely tired out.I started writing this around 8:45 and it is now 11:37. hopefully, I'll be smarter next time and either A. do this at a more reasonable time, or B. do it at this time, but hopped up on caffeine.  
  
So could you all please please PLEASE read and review? I really appreciate all the words of encouragement that I get; I've never ever had this type of reaction from any of my work. Maybe if you do it fast enough, I'll write another chapter during my winter break (  
  
Also, suggestions are always welcome at anytime. I believe my email address is in my user lookup, so feel free to contact me via that. 


	7. Secrets Revealed

Time for chapter seven! Thanks for reading and reviewing guys, it means a lot as always. I'm not sure how soon this chapter will get out there; I'm currently typing it from my laptop that will be transferred from here, to a floppy disk, and then onto my computer with internet access. Last time I tried doing this, I had the first three chapters on disk, but the fourth one mysteriously disappeared and has yet to be seen. Hopefully, this won't happen again.  
  
Also, I'm trying to keep the characters as close to how they are in the book as possible. Can you guys tell me if I am or not after you read and review this chapter? I don't want to venture too far away from what can happen.  
  
One last thing before you guys read: I recently purchased the newest Harry Potter hints book by Galadriel Waters. This book pokes hints at what may come in future Potter books. As my readers, would you guys like me to lace some of these things into the story, or would you rather I not? *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Suddenly, everything was making perfect sense to Hermione. The awkward silences, tense conversations, and odd looks seemed so obvious now that she felt slightly stupid for not having picked up on it until this very moment.  
  
"Hermione? Are you okay?" Harry asked her uneasily.  
  
Hermione looked up, realizing she had been lost in her thoughts for some time now; she had almost forgotten that Harry and Ginny were there with her.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine, but - wait, hang on just one second! You two knew about this and it didn't occur to either one of you that I just MIGHT want to know?" Hermione said, her voice rising as she spoke.  
  
"We wanted to tell you, we really did, but Ron made us swear we wouldn't!" Ginny said, a note of pleading in her voice.  
  
A new thought had just occurred to Hermione.  
  
"Is that why I wasn't invited to the Burrow this summer? He thought that the two of you might spill the beans?" she inquired.  
  
Harry and Ginny looked at each other, then at Hermione and nodded to her.  
  
"Alright, well since the cat's out of the bag now, would you fancy telling me what's been happening from beginning to end?" Hermione continued to badger.  
  
"I guess it wouldn't hurt," Harry said, thankful that Hermione hadn't resorted to shoving her wand up his nose, which he knew she was very capable of doing. Her nail marks in his arm still hadn't faded completely.  
  
"Well.I guess it all starts around last year," Ginny started, but after seeing the look of fury on Hermione's face quickly added," But we didn't KNOW then, Hermione, wait until we're finished!"  
  
"We didn't really notice anything until the Yule Ball last year. And that went.well, you know how it went," Harry said hastily.  
  
"He was so jealous seeing you and Krum together at the dance. And then after he pulled you out of the lake during the second task, I thought he might go ballistic," Ginny said, a broad grin sweeping over her face at the memory.  
  
"But I thought he didn't hate Viktor anymore! He asked for his autograph at the end of the year, for goodness sake," Hermione interjected.  
  
"Yes well, that was just the eye of the storm," Harry continued. "When he found out you spent your holiday with our favorite Bulgarian." he stopped and let out a low whistle.  
  
".that's the main reason why he didn't ask you to stay with us and Harry. He thought he might lose it and blurt everything out faster than any Veritaserum can make you," Ginny said.  
  
"And to top it all off, his potential competitor shows up mere days ago and sweeps the girl he fancies off her feet," Harry finished.  
  
The end of this speech brought on a slightly stunned silence. The pieces were fitting together, and the puzzle was becoming complete.  
  
"And you didn't tell me because?" Hermione said, raising her eyebrows slightly.  
  
"We told you, we couldn't tell. And plus, you never asked," Ginny said, checking her watch.  
  
Before Hermione even had time to argue, Ginny interrupted her.  
  
"Listen, if we don't leave, Ron's going to think we're doing exactly what we're doing now. Let's go," she said, and grabbing Hermione by the upper arm, pushed her out of the portrait hole.  
  
They descended to the Great Hall in silence, Hermione silently fuming at her friends. She wished they had told her sooner. She didn't know what to make of this mess, and her thoughts were so scrambled that she barely had time to stop from walking head on into one of the doors of the Great Hall. Thankfully, Harry grabbed her just before she caused her head another trauma for the second time that day.  
  
"Now listen," Ginny said to her in a low whisper. "Try to act like we've been doing exactly what we told Ron we were doing. If he catches on, we're fried," she said, motioning to her and Harry.  
  
Hermione nodded, and with that, Ginny opened the door to the Great Hall and they made their way down to the Gryffindor table.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Over the next few weeks, Hermione barely had time to dwell on the news her friends had so unceremoniously dropped onto her head. Her time was devoted to her studies and steadily preparing for the O.W.L.S. She knew that these tests could change her whole future, so she often sacrificed her free time spending hours in the library, looking up various spells and charms her teachers had told her might come up on the exams.  
  
On one crisp November afternoon, she was again residing in the library, looking up the countercurse to the Knee Knocker curse, when Krum strolled into the library. She was so focused on the read in front of her that she didn't realize he was there until he cast a shadow on her sunlit book.  
  
"Oh! Vikor, you frightened me," she said, jumping from her break in concentration.  
  
"I am sorry, Herm-my-own-ninny. But I haff come to talk to you about something," he said, pulling out a seat and sitting down next to her.  
  
Hermione marked her book and closed it, setting it back down on the table.  
  
"Do you remember last year when I asked you to the Yule Ball?" he asked her, looking at her intently.  
  
"How can I forget," Hermione answered him, blushing.  
  
"Vell, I vas vondering.," Krum started, but was interrupted by a screech that was at a pitch only Madam Pince could hit.  
  
"NO TALKING IN THE LIBRARY! OUT! OUT!" she shrieked at them as Hermione picked up her things and they both ran out the door.  
  
Hermione knew it was only a matter of time before Madam Pince caught up with them, so she turned to Krum and said, "Viktor, I better go. I'll catch up with you later, alright?"  
  
He didn't object; he was looking awfully bewildered for someone who received frequent blows to the head from flying Bludgers.  
  
"See you later, then," Hermione said, and with that, turned around and quickly made her way up to Gryffindor common room.  
  
Once there, she found Ron, Harry and Ginny in the coziest armchairs by the fire. Harry and Ron were immersed in what looked like a very brutal game of wizard's chess. She made her way over to them and dumped her books in front of the fire.  
  
Ron looked up from the chessboard, where one of his bishops was brutally annihilating Harry's knight. "I thought you finished all of your homework; you can't possibly be THAT far behind," he teased her, motioning to the stack of books she had abruptly flung on the floor.  
  
"That's not homework, I'm studying for our O.W.L.S. exams," she said with a tone of voice that hinted that he should be doing the same. She plopped herself down on Ron's chair; there was just enough room for her to fit. When she looked back up at Ron, she noticed his ears had gone red.  
  
"So you were studying that whole time in the library?" Ginny asked around a mouthful of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.  
  
"I was for awhile, but then Krum came in to ask me something," she said, automatically aware that she shouldn't have.  
  
"What did he want?" Ron asked in a stiff form of casual conversation.  
  
"I don't know, we got chased out by Madam Pince for talking," she said, cringing at the memory.  
  
Hermione saw Ron visibly relax after that. He finished off his match against Harry, and Hermione tried to help him out every once in a while. Slowly, the sky outside darkened, and the common room began to empty. It was well past their bedtime when Ginny finally sat up and stretched.  
  
"Alright, I'm going to bed," Ginny said, stifling a yawn.  
  
"Yes, me too. Goodnight, boys," she said, waving her departure to Ron and Harry.  
  
Hermione and Ginny climbed up the spiral staircase that led to the girl's dormitories. When they reached the fourth year's door, Ginny stopped and turned to Hermione.  
  
"So, have you gotten a date yet to the New Year's Eve Ball?" she asked, and it made all forms of sleepiness leave Hermione's head completely.  
  
"No! I've completely forgotten about it up until now," she answered truthfully.  
  
"You might want to hurry, it's only a few weeks away, you know," Ginny said, rubbing her eyes sleepily.  
  
"Have you gotten a date yet?" Hermione asked her friend, nervous that she had waited to long to find someone to go with.  
  
"No - well - erm.yes, I have actually," she said bashfully. "Harry asked me a few days ago. Just as friends, or course," she added quickly.  
  
"That's wonderful!" Hermione said to her friend, genuinely meaning it. "I just hope someone might ask me before it's too late."  
  
"Are you blind, Hermione?" Ginny asked exasperatedly.  
  
Just to make sure, Hermione waved a hand in front of her face. She definitely saw it.  
  
"No, why?" she asked, completely lost by the turn in conversation.  
  
"You said Krum wanted to tell you something before you were chased out of the library. I reckon that he wanted to ask you to the ball Hermione," Ginny said, shaking her head at the thought of her intelligent friend being this slow on the pick up.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
So how did you like this one? I hope that the stories aren't going down in quality, because they certainly aren't in length. My book should be arriving in the mail soon, and I want to get this chapter up as quickly as possible.  
  
So please don't forget to read and review for me please! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed thus far, I make sure to read every single one of them. Your words of encouragement mean so much. 


	8. Shouting Matches

We've reached another chapter in our story. Time flies, doesn't it? Ah well. It's been awhile since I've mentioned this, but all characters belong to the greatest literary genius of all time, also known as J.K. Rowling.  
  
Please, as always, read and review, and thank you to all who have done so thus far.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
It had been a few days since Ginny brought the New Year's Eve Ball to her attention, but now Hermione was wondering how she had ever forgotten about it. Girls were constantly eyeing boys and traveling in packs. Hermione didn't really see any change in the male species, as they were always eyeing the girls.  
  
Soon Hermione realized that annoyance wasn't the only emotion going through here; she was beginning to feel a little nervous. Last year, Krum had asked her to the ball only days before. Would he be doing that again? 'No,' she thought, 'if that's what he was going to ask me that day in the library, obviously not.'  
  
Hermione also realized that even though she thought things might be different between her and Ron, everything was basically the same. Though they got along ninety percent of the time, that ten was always prominent.  
  
She was dwelling on this one afternoon when she was, once again, studying in the library. She was snapped back to reality when someone tapped her shoulder so suddenly that she jumped about a foot in the air and a copy of Wonderful Witches and Wizards of the Ancient World landed on her toes.  
  
"Ouch! Oh, hello Viktor," she said, blushing when she realized who it was.  
  
"Hello. Would you like to go for a valk vith me?" he said, motioning to the librarian, who was eyeing them fiercely for making so much noise.  
  
Hermione nodded and packed up the books that were hers and returning Madam Pince's to their proper places. Then she and Krum left the library together.  
  
"Where are we going?" Hermione asked him. He motioned towards the front doors of the castle, and they made their way outside.  
  
It was a crisp November day, bordering the edge of December. Although it was a few weeks too early, the air was already hinting of snow. A wind blew at Hermione and she shivered, wishing she had thought to stop and grab her cloak. To Krum, the weather was summery for him, and showed no signs of being cold.  
  
He suddenly looked at her with concern. "Are you cold?" he asked her.  
  
"Just a little," Hermione said, trying to stop her teeth from chattering.  
  
"Here, take this," Krum said, handing her his blood red cloak. He wrapped her in it and fastened the buttons to block out the chill. Hermione noticed that it was still warm from him wearing it.  
  
"Thanks," Hermione said gratefully.  
  
"I have yet to ask you vhat I vanted to in the library, Herm-my-oh-ninny," Krum said, a tad bashful. "I vanted to know if you haff found a date for the New Year's Eeff Ball."  
  
Hermione's heart started pounding extremely fast and she could feel her face redden. She knew this might be coming, but she hadn't expected it to be this quickly.  
  
"Well - erm - no, I haven't actually," she said, squirming inside his cloak.  
  
There was a small pause in the conversation, then,  
  
"Vell, it vould be a great honor if you vould attend it vith me," he stammered, his face now too going red. It reminded her of another one of her close friends, and how it would make his ears go red as well. It was a few seconds later when she realized that Krum was waiting for her to reply and was jarred out of her trance.  
  
"Oh! I would like that very much," she said, not sure if she really meant it with all of her heart. Something had just occurred to her that made her rethink he answer. "Just as friends, right?" she added.  
  
Krum's smile faltered only a fraction, but he then replied, "Of course. Vhatever makes you happy."  
  
They were on their way back to the castle now, and they passed the journey in a squeamish silence. It was only when they reached the staircase that led to Gryffindor tower that Krum spoke.  
  
"I shall leave you here. Goodbye, Herm-my-oh-ninny," he said, taking her hand and kissing it in departure.  
  
Hermione barely looked back as she ran up all seven staircases. When she reached the portrait hole, she uttered the password to the Fat Lady, but she wouldn't budge.  
  
"Who gave you the password to Gryffindor tower?" she leered at Hermione.  
  
"I belong to Gryffindor tower! I have since I arrived her five years ago!" she answered her, not knowing what kind of question that was.  
  
"Oh really? Then what was one of the passwords from five years ago?" the Fat Lady said with a nasty grin.  
  
Still having no idea what the Fat Lady was on about, she thought back to her first year. One particular scene came to her mind of her and three of her other fellow Gryffindors running down that very hall to the Fat Lady's portrait. They had been out of bounds and out of bed, and it was only because of a certain redhead pulling her along the corridors that she ever made it back into the common room at all. She remembered Harry hurriedly giving the Fat Lady the password.  
  
"Pig's Snout!" Hermione said triumphantly.  
  
"Very well," the Fat Lady sighed, grudgingly opening the portrait hole that led to the common room.  
  
The common room was very packed and noisy. She made her way over to her friends who were sprawled out on the floor doing homework, but not before realizing that many people were looking at her just like the Fat Lady had.  
  
It wasn't until she reached Ginny, Ron and Harry that she realized what was wrong. Ginny looked up with her with a smile on her face, but it quickly fell when she looked at Hermione's body rather than her face.  
  
"What are you wearing that for?" she said, and Hermione looked down.  
  
She let out a gasp of horror. She was still wrapped in Viktor's cloak. Now she knew why the Fat Lady hadn't wanted to let her in; she had thought Hermione was from Durmstrang. She tried furiously to unbutton it, but hadn't even undone the first clasp when Ron looked up. His face went from normal and freckly to angry and crimson faster than with the use of Fever Fudge.  
  
"So, you were talking with HIM again?" Ron said a little too loudly, attracting the attention of some nearby students.  
  
"Yes I was, but I wasn't aware that I had to consult you before I talked to anyone other than you or Harry," Hermione snipped.  
  
Ron's face went an even deeper shade of magenta.  
  
"Well, what did he want?" he asked, his voice on a determined level of calm.  
  
"Not that it's any of your business, but he asked me to the New Year's Eve Ball," she replied, trying not to look him in the eye, for he was likely to explode. At this point, she didn't know which was redder, the comfy chairs they were near by the fire or Ron's face.  
  
"And?" Ron asked with mock sweetness.  
  
"Oh for goodness sake Ron, it's none of your business!" Hermione exclaimed, standing up as she spoke.  
  
"I KNEW IT! You knew I didn't have a date to the ball yet, so you smarmed up to Krum so he would take you so you wouldn't have to go with me!" Ron shouted, jumping to his feet, making one sixth year girl spill her bottle of ink and the entire common room go silent. "You couldn't resist the chance of showing up here, wearing his cloak to get all the other girls jealous! Fine! Go snog your boyfriend, see if I care!"  
  
Hermione felt as if she had been smacked in the face. The contents of the common room were either looking at her or Ron, and she knew some people were probably taking bets on who would win this round. She was seething with anger, willing to jump at him and tear his eyes out. She regretted every nice thing she had ever said about him; ever felt about him.  
  
"I would say I didn't know what was wrong with you, Ron, but I do. The problem is that you do care."  
  
Then with all the dignity she had left, sheltered her eyes now brimming with tears and ran up the staircase to the girl's dormitories, Krum's cloak billowing behind her as she went.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Ginny sat in the common room, completely shocked at the scene that had just taken place. Slowly, the common room started to become noisy again, although a few people's gazes flitted in their direction from time to time. It was only when she was sure that no one else was listening to them that she spoke.  
  
"I hope you're proud of yourself, Ron. You just managed to lose the girl of your dreams and your best friend over something completely stupid," she muttered to her brother, and then followed in Hermione's wake, up to the girl's dormitories.  
  
When she reached the landing for the fifth year's dormitory, she could hear someone who was trying to control their sobbing but entirely losing on the other side of the door. When she knocked, the crying ceased and was replaced by echoing footsteps.  
  
"If you've come to apologize, Ron, I've got a few well chosen words-," she started before having Ginny appear behind the door.  
  
"Don't worry, I'm not Ron. I think even HE has the sense not to come up here just yet," Ginny said, stepping inside the dormitory. (a/n: yes, I know the boys can't go up the staircases, but just go with the story people ()  
  
She took a look at her friend. In a short span of five minutes, she had already managed to smear what little makeup she wore and make her hair ten times frizzier than she had ever seen it.  
  
"That was cruel, what he said to you down there," Ginny said, wrapping her friend in a hug. "No one deserves that."  
  
"Why can't he just be normal and tell me how he feels? I'm not going to vomit all over him if he tells me," Hermione said between hiccups.  
  
"Because Ron's way of dealing with things is not to deal with them at all. I guess it's a guy thing," Ginny answered her, digging a tissue out of her cloak pocket for her friend.  
  
"Yes, well, he won't have to worry about telling me now. You guys are going to be in big trouble with him; know he knows you told me," Hermione said, taking the tissue Ginny gave her and honking into it.  
  
"Don't worry about it, he would have found out soon enough," Ginny replied. "Harry and I were going to tell him that you knew, but I don't think we have to now," she said, smiling warily at Hermione. "Forget about Ron for now though. Krum did ask you to the Ball though, didn't he?"  
  
Hermione had completely forgotten about that up until that moment.  
  
"Yes, he did. You were right, Ginny. That's what he wanted to ask me the other day," she said, throwing the used tissue into a wastebasket.  
  
"That's wonderful, Hermione. Come on now, let's fix you up, then we can go down to dinner." Ginny soothed, walking over to her friend and leading her over to the girl's washrooms.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Ron and Harry sat on the floor by the fire, no words spoken between them. Harry didn't need to say anything to Ron; he knew what he had done was wrong. Nearly everyone had gone to dinner, but Ron didn't have much of an appetite. His stomach was clenched, and he felt as if he had been slapped across the face. Apparently, Hermione either knew or had guessed how he felt about her. He wasn't sure how he felt about this, but didn't have time to figure it out; Ginny had just descended down the spiral staircase, followed by a puffy eyed Hermione.  
  
Ron went to get up and say something, but before he even started was cut off by Ginny.  
  
"I don't think that it's such a good idea that you dine with us tonight," she said in an icy tone. "We'll see you later."  
  
Ron was left to gape with his mouth wide as his best friend and his sister exited the portrait hole without so much as a look back at him or Harry.  
  
And so the routine continued for a good number of days. Hermione barely spoke a word to even Harry, so Ron knew that he had really done it this time. She seemed to have developed a selective hearing when things concerned Ron or he would speak in front of her; she would pretend he wouldn't exist and walk by him on many occasions. He would even give anything to have her scream at him, hit, kick, or punch him, but she had resorted to not doing any of those things, either.  
  
"I really blew it Harry. I wish she would speak to me. I would do anything to have her even look at me," Ron said one day when they were doing Charms homework in the common room.  
  
Harry looked up from his essay on the Hiccup Hex. "Anything?" he asked his friend.  
  
"Absolutely," Ron said, a pleading note in his voice.  
  
"Well you know what you've got to do, don't you?" Harry said, placing down his quill.  
  
"You know I don't," Ron snapped at him.  
  
"You embarrassed her in front of the entire Gryffindor house. You need to cause that kind of embarrassment on yourself," Harry answered, as if the answer was as simple as one plus one.  
  
"How do you suppose I do that?" Ron said, looking as if summer holidays had been denied.  
  
Harry thought for a moment, and then an idea popped into his head.  
  
"Well, there's this muggle song."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
The next night, Hermione and Ginny were sitting in front of the common room fire. Hermione was busily making more elf hats and scarves, and Ginny was filling her in on the latest gossip. Suddenly, there was a great shout of laughter from behind her. She turned around to see Seamus Finnegan doubled up with laughter and pointing out the window.  
  
"Look everyone! Weasley's gone insane!" he choked out.  
  
Hermione abandoned her knitting needles, Ginny close behind her. When Hermione reached the window, there were already many students smushed up against it, wearing faces identical to Seamus'. After she had forced her way to the front of the swarm, she could see why.  
  
Frost covered the ground outside where Ron stood, and yet he was out there, wearing nothing but the old pajamas he had had since his first year at Hogwarts. They were incredibly short in his legs and arms, and Hermione could tell by the expression on his face it was in a few more places also.  
  
"Hold on, he's saying something!" Ginny cried, disbelief written all over her face. "Somebody open a window!"  
  
There was a rush of hands towards the great windows, and three of them were successfully pulled open. Then, Ron's voice so distant before, echoed up through the night's sky and into the windows.  
  
"Why can't we be friends, Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends, why can't we be friends?" Ron was singing, each verse in a different pitch. Most of the kids in the common room who Hermione knew were from muggle families were laughing the hardest of all, recognizing it as a song from the radio.  
  
Hermione couldn't help it, but the corners of her mouth slowly turned up into a smile, until she, like the rest, was laughing until tears leaked out of her eyes.  
  
Then, the doors of the castle banged open, and Filch the caretaker was hobbling along straight towards Ron. Seeing this, Ron started running in the opposite direction until he was no longer in sight. Slowly, everyone made their way back from the window into the common room, clutching their stomachs or wiping their eyes from laughter.  
  
"You've got a Durmstrang teacher and your best friend after you. Wild!" Parvati Patil said to Hermione, her face red from laughing.  
  
Hermione was at a loss for words, which rarely ever happened. But that didn't stop her heart from telling her that no matter what Ron Weasley had said to her in the past, she would be able to forgive him because of his social sacrifice.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Wow. I loved this chapter. I just banged it out, it came into my head and whoosh. Here you have it. Please read and review, especially if you liked this chapter as much as I did ( 


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